Kindle conversion

OK, I know. I admit it. I’ve been living in the dark ages as far as electronic books are concerned. Positively antediluvian, in fact.

Shocking to think that it’s 30 years since Michael Hart dreamed up Project Gutenberg, at the time a seemingly eccentric and idealistic scheme to copy the texts of tens of thousands of books into electronic form and distribute them freely. A scheme which spearheaded the ebook revolution. And I’m only now catching on to it. OK, I’m hanging my head in shame.

But since Hart died this month perhaps this blog can serve as a tribute as well as a confession. My very resistance to ‘his’ technology means I owe him space and respect today at the very least.

It all started in 1971 – before Microsoft, before PCs. Indeed, when Hart had a vision of a world ‘where you can walk into a public library and get 90 percent of the information you need copied on a disk that you don’t have to return’, computers were vast machines with huge tapes attended by men in white lab coats. I remember them well! My first university post required me to use those cumbersome appliances.

This was in the days prior to scanning machines too. Hart spent twenty years in obscurity laboriously typing away by hand. He copied 313 books (vast tomes like the works of Shakespeare, the Bible, the American Constitution included). He met with both ridicule and scepticism. But as all things electronic changed, his scheme gathered momentum and credibility, others latched onto his coat-tails, and this year Project Gutenberg boasts more than 36,000 items in its collection, written in 60 different languages, with an average of 50 new ebooks being added each week. Mind blowing, eh?So who was I to be so sceptical? Oh but I do so love ‘real’ books – the ones you hold in your hand, and recognise from their covers, and collect on your shelves. Their smell, their heft, their feel. The way they change with use and loving. Everything about them really.

And my prejudice has been stoked by the twin threats of diminishing royalties and piracy which hover over writers and publishers who venture down the electronic route. Not to mention the ongoing challenge of ever-changing technology.

But I do try not to be a troglodyte. Honestly, I do. And gradually, almost imperceptibly, I’ve come to grudgingly recognise the inducements of ebook publishing. Indeed I’m seriously considering it for myself. Hang it, I even went to an all-day conference on the subject run by the Society of Authors in Scotland on Saturday! And I’ve just discovered Lin Anderson’s blog devoted to it. Wahey! Positively steaming into the 21st century!

And of course, I do see the potential advantages of dozens of books accompanying me on my travels without risking a huge airport baggage charge or a complete spinal breakdown.

Anyway, back to my story … one day at a family gathering recently, I rashly admitted that I was thinking of investing in a Kindle … maybe … some day … soonish perhaps. Ears pricked. Eyes brightened. Number One Son (who’s a big fan) grabbed the iron while it was about 90 degrees and said he’d buy me one for my birthday and Christmas gift.

Wowwa. Steady on. I need to be sure … It’d be a waste of good money if …

Quick as a flash he boomerangs back: Borrow mine to see how you get on.

My aging brain couldn’t think of a single reason why not … unless … surely, he’d be bereft without it?

Next thing I know I’m sitting here with a Kindle in my hands. And I’m shamefacedly clawing back all my reservations and provisos and caveats. Absolutely loving the experience.

Fair does, my son did give the experiment a sporting chance – he downloaded two books high on my wish-list into the machine: Sing You Home by Jodi Picoult which is about surrogate pregnancy, and Annabel by Kathleen Winter which centres around a kiddie with ambiguous gender issues. Very much my bag. But even so. I expected a less than enjoyable experience. Instead I’ve been forced to eat a giant slice of humble pie and furthermore, I’ve become an actively zealous new convert.

I love that the text is so clear. I love the way that the page is always totally flat, no twisting to see the inside margins or fearing breaking the spine. And the compactness that slips in a bag or pocket so easily. And the automatic switch off if you’re inactive for any length of time. No worries about weight or damage or … well, anything.

Just so that I don’t forget my first impressions, however, I should note a couple of minor quibbles. It’s not so easy to check where the next break in text comes, just to see if I’ve got time to finish this section before my bus is due; you can’t just stick a finger in and flick real pages. There’s no back cover to give you a hook into the story, either. Or lovely appealing covers like these hard copy versions. And I’m not sure how you’d go about referencing a quote when the page numbers aren’t shown. But, like I say, small fry stuff in the big scheme of things.

So I’m a reformed character. Secretly I’m chanting, Roll on my birthday next month! And my next holiday in the sun. Let me see, just how many books will I take?

4 Responses to “Kindle conversion”

I “succumbed” on Mother’s Day and love my Kindle. Contrary to what the worry-warts predicted, I don’t read less books, I read a lot more! I still borrow books from the library, I still buy and read “real” books but I also read, and enjoy the experience, on my Kindle.

BUT, another great aspect of the Kindle missed by many readers, is the ability to post your own documents to it. Not only is it handy for editing on the move but it will actually read your own work back to you. Admittedly, the electronic voice leaves a great deal to be desired (esp when one of your characters is a Banshee!)but it really does help in spotting the errors that being too close to your own work prevents you seeing. It’s much more versatile than a mere e-book reading instrument.

As for all my concerns about readability and the expectation that it would be like reading off a computer monitor? I was way off mark. The digital ink experience is easy on the eye and the ability to alter the text size is a great bonus.

Downside? Doing too much reading when I should be doing other things! Otherwise, I can’t fault it. (The e-book market is being flooded with some fifth-rate books that are nowhere near publishable standard – but it’s usually pretty easy to spot them and the ability to download a free sample allows you to make an informed decision. On the other side of that equation, I have read a couple of excellent books that were in difficult-to-place genres and had failed to be picked up by mainstream publishers – they’re getting the audience their authors deserve.)

I try not to be a Kindle evangelist – people will find their own way in their own time – but I love it when people “discover” the joys of Kindle. Happy reading ahead!

Brilliant. Thank you Clare, for another ringing endorsement. Curiously, after posting today’s blog I read the current edition of ‘The Author’ which arrived a couple of days ago and no less that SIX of the articles are about ebooks! I felt even more delighted to have scrambled into the new age. But I hear your caution, and I will try not to become a Kindle evangelist. As you say, people will find their own way in their own time. Like me.